Juventus’ exclusive deal with Konami’s eFootball series has come to an end, opening the door for the Serie A giants to possibly return to the FIFA video game franchise, which is soon to be rebranded as EA Sports FC.
Both Juventus and Serie A have seen their Konami licensing contracts come to an end, although Napoli, Lazio, Roma and Atalanta will remain exclusively available in eFootball.
Juventus had been exclusive to Konami since 2019, forcing EA Sports to remove the club’s name and branding in favour of the alternatively named Piemonte Calcio.
According to the recent reports, Juventus will be making a return to the FIFA franchise. They will have the right to use their real name, and alongside this, they can now also use their official badge, stadium and kits.
Konami’s contract with the Serie A has also come to an end. However, they still do hold the licensing to many other Italian clubs. Napoli, Lazio, Roma and Atalanta will remain exclusively available in eFootball.
This means that their current names will remain and will not change until their respected contracts with the Japanese company come to an end.
While Juventus’ name and branding has not been in EA Sports games, the club’s players have been available in the FIFA franchise.
The announcement opens the door for FIFA 23, the last of the series with that title, before branding switches to EA Sports FC in 2023 to include Juventus’ likeness.
EA Sports continues to hold an extensive portfolio of official licenses, with over 700 teams worldwide included in the game.
FIFA 22 will be added to the Play List
This week, the latest entry in EA’s football series will be available on the Play List.
This also means it will be available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members, who get EA Play access as part of their subscription.
The Play List is EA’s archive of legacy titles, which anyone can play with an EA Play subscription (Xbox, PlayStation or PC) or an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
Currently, EA Play offers a 10-hour game trial of FIFA 22, but this will be replaced with the whole game.
FIFA’s addition now means that all of EA Sports’ 2021 titles – FIFA 22, Madden NFL 22, NHL 22 and F1 2021 are available as part of an EA Play subscription.
Last month EA started testing cross-play online multiplayer in FIFA 22, but it’s currently only limited to the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Stadia versions of the game, meaning Xbox One, PS4 and PC players are left out for now.
